Portretkop van een vrouw 1834 - 1906

This is a pencil drawing of a woman's head by Maria Vos, now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. Vos was working in the Netherlands in the nineteenth century, at a time when women artists were gaining increasing access to institutional training. Looking closely, we can see a soft, delicate touch, with subtle gradations of light and shadow that bring the figure to life. But the sketch is incomplete. The lack of finish might imply a sense of freedom from academic constraints, or it might simply be the product of the artist’s studio practice, a preliminary study for a larger work. The politics of imagery in the 19th century were closely bound to the rise of the middle class, as well as the increasing professionalization of art. To fully understand this drawing, one must research the artist's life, looking into the artistic and cultural milieu in which she worked. What were the social conditions that shaped her artistic production? These are the kinds of questions art historians seek to answer.